South Africa is said to be one of the more developed African countries but remains one of the most economically and socially unequal countries in the world, according to the World Bank. One aspect which has greatly affected this statistic is the crisis of our education sector.
In 2015, an Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) study on education placed South Africa in 75th place out of 76 countries. The country failed to reach the top 40 for maths or reading in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) rankings. In 2016, results from the Progress of International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) revealed that South Africa placed last out of 50 countries in primary school-level reading literacy. Furthermore, in 2018 the Department of Education revealed that out of 23,471 public schools, 20,071 have no laboratory, 18, 019 have no library and 16,879 have no internet. These are but a few statistics to reflect the characteristics of our education system. Surely it should make one wonder, why and how is our education sector in such a state of crisis?
Nelson Mandela once said: “education is the most powerful tool you can use to change the world.” For South Africans, this quote is so poignant, given our history. Since 1994, our goal has been to ensure positive change for the future of our democratic nation and not repeat mistakes of the past. The current geographical view of South Africa reflects the inequalities left behind by Apartheid. In our education sector, inequality is so clear in the state of schools. The poor reap the worst of the crops, having access to ill infrastructure and poorly resourced schools. Despite spending billions of Rands on education every year, South Africa is failing to level the playing field for all South African scholars, regardless of social status and economic background. The Finance Minister, Tito Mbonweni, revealed that in 2021, R387.2 billion will go towards education and will likely increase to R416 billion in 2023/2024.
The problem in our education system, however, is not the amount of money that is given by the government. The problem in our education system is a lack of management of that money.
The Department of Education has the duty of ensuring that the basic right to education is given to all students. This right, however, also includes access to safe and adequate learning facilities and access to resources. Proper facilities are something that too many public schools do not have but the government has the funds to give. For many Model-C and Private schools, the Apartheid legacy is seen by the fact that these schools are mainly situated in middle-class neighbourhoods which were historically white segregated areas. These schools do not rely heavily on government funding and can provide learners with a variety of proper facilities, academic resources, and opportunities. Yet, these schools only make up the minority.
It is a simple fact that the lack of action from the government has further highlighted the inequalities through causing a child’s educational experience to be very much based on their wealth, where they are born, and the colour of their skin.
It is no surprise then that over the past two decades, numerous NGOs focussing on aiding learners who have to attend poor schools have sprung up. Equal Education is a national education NGO with a mission to encourage equality and quality in education. Amnesty International South Africa is an international NGO that does extensive research to help fight human rights abuse and encourage law changes. There are many more.
For how long must change rely on organisations at the grassroots level? Without proper government intervention, extensive change in the form of policies would take many more years to occur.
The government needs to prioritise education. This does not mean giving more money but simply managing it more efficiently. A good start would be to identify which schools do not have safe learning environments and fix these schools. The assumption that a change in the curriculum levels the playing field needs to be reassessed. With the fourth industrial revolution upon us, the government cannot assume that granting tablets to children will allow all learners to become digitally literate because there are still hundreds of schools with no internet, let alone electricity.
Furthermore, South African education is in a state of a literacy crisis. A majority of learners cannot read for meaning in any language by grade 4, leading to failing grades and school dropouts. The way in which languages are taught, and the language chosen to teach curriculum is another great aspect that the government should not ignore.
Addressing our education system would bring about national change to the social, economic, and political state of our country. The government needs to prioritize education so that we can ensure that the hope for a better South Africa can be experienced. If not, we will find ourselves continuing in this cycle where the education system continues to fail our youth.
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